I'd be lying if I said Sagada totally sucked. Actually, it was ok, nothing great.

But it didn't take a crystal ball or Madame Auring to predict that I'd have a sucky New Year's Celebration. What was supposed to be a promsing dinner (still in Sagada) prepared by a French chef turned out to be everything but great. We had a 3 course dinner composed of dishes that tasted like water. It was horrible.

After dinner, we went to some little plaza outside the restaurant and watched some garage band play oldies. It was really sad.

We ended up going back to our cottage and greeting the new year in bed--- asleep, dead tired from the 14 hour trip going there.

That was my sad new year's celebration. If you could even call it a celebration.

It's Sunday morning now and there's not much to do.

I took one of those quizes that predict what you're going to be. Get this, it predicts that I'm going to be a stripper earning $700, 000 annually. Haha... that's funny.

This is round 2 for me...

The Ateneo results will be released in a couple of hours.

I'm trying to be optimistic but not too confident. I'm trying to stay calm but not too "kampante." I'm trying to keep still but not too comfortable.

Damn... I hate this feeling!

... he would be Max Brenner!

I had my first rendezvous with the famous and well publicized (very good PR, i must say) chocolates of bald man, Max Brenner.

One word to describe it: heavenly!

Mother dear saved me a couple of pralines- mint and dark chocolate.

Every molecule of chocolate just burst in my mouth at first bite. It was not as sweet as your supermarket shelf chocolate for it was just right. It was soft but not too chewy. The mint flavor did not at all overpower the chocolate sensation (wtf?!) while the dark chocolate was just too sinful!

It only took 1 minute for me to devour the chocolates but the aftertaste lingered a little while longer.

I don't understand how people can swear off chocolates especially if it's as good as this!

A new year calls for resolutions that are never follwed! That is exactly what this entry is about: things I think I need to do but will not end up donig anyway.

Here goes:
-- Start shaping up for the beach- I really have to cut down my rice intake because I devour it like a sumo wrestler. At times, my tummy gets so big that I can make it dance the otso otso. Believe me, I'd give Bayani a run for his moeny. Besides, I have no plans of looking like an eskimo when I go to Bora come April! Enough said.

-- Read read read - College should give me more time for myself. I can't just sit around and wait for my brain to turn into a mound of jelly.

-- Disassociate myself with infamous organizations:

> The Center for Kasawian and Singles-
I'm proud to say that I recruited a whole class into it- my class. What started as my own kasawian turned into a section 3 epidemic. The class has been very much involved in this club that everytime we hear something that speaks of "kasawian," everyone just shuts up and gives up this really loud "awww!!" in the end.

> The Unruly Hair Club-
My friend couldn't have said it better, "Our breed (people with unruly hair) is dying!" Here Here! I know I have to learn to love my hair the way it is but I can dream, right?

One thing I'm really proud of is that I was never the president of this club! Thank God! There are people with worse hair than me, so my highest position in the club was a member of the board.

-- Complete Simbang Gabi- Wish that all these things come true next year because I know I can't do it all in 2004!

Happiness is... saving myself from a tongue lashing from teachers because of my "pekpek" shorts.

Happiness is... when a classmate buys the extra PE shirt I was obliged to purchase.

Happiness is... witnessing a miracle- a 2 point shot- that tied a basketball game between the seniors and sophies during intrams.

Happiness is... learning the clap of the new Coke ad... Pabilis ng pabilis...

Happiness is... being where I want to be on a Friday night- at home- ready to hit the bed.

Happiness is... being a La Sallian and loving it!

Boy Abunda (BA): How'd you do in the ACET?

ME: I won't answer that directly Tito Boy. Let's just put it this way, whatever I did in third year and in the ACET is nothing I'm ashamed of. Third year was a year well spent and the ACET was a test well prepared for.

BA: If you could change the way things turned out, would you?

ME: No. I'd still make the same choices and commit the same mistakes. Showbiz ba?

BA: How do you feel now?

ME: A movie title says it all, "Tinimbang ako (ng Ateneo), ngunit kulang."

BA: The imaginary mirror is in front of you. Anung sasabihin mo sa kanya?

ME: No regrets... no regrets.

This bitch is proud to be a LA SALLIAN!

When God gives us the chance to harness our talents, He prescribes no school. He just prescribes a dose of courage and determination. -Jonas Soltes

...Afterall, God did not come from Ateneo.

Ladies and gentlemen, the bitter ball is speaking once again.

I'm beginning a love story with writing and photography in spite of the fact that I do not have my own camera. I don't need a Jesuit education for that, right?

DISCLAIMER: As of this writing, I am in a sort-of-bitter-but-am-getting-out-of-it stage. If you do plan to go to Ateneo, I wish you all the best. If not, well, it's not the end of the world.

Trust me on this one.

Let's face it! Studying in an all-girl's school has it's down side, no boys! A soiree is the perfect activity where we try not to get left behind by the co-ed rat pack. It's our subtle way of telling the world that we too can and will find boys. A soiree is the quintessential high school activity. It all happens that one afternoon when all participants are willing to hang loose and make fools of themselves even for a while. Activites include playing funny bones with boys you don't want to touch (for superficial reasons or otherwise), trying to sound like the most intersting person in your 60 second time limit, playing newspaper dance while looking at your partner's gigantic shoes (big shoes, big... socks!) and playing 7 minutes in heaven (I await the day this game will live up to its name!). All this in the name of frienship, love or whatever comes first... if anything even comes. After all the hassle we go through to plan a soiree, participate in one and find a decent guy who'll snag our number, there is still no assurance that we will find our soulmate, knight-in-shining armor, man or however you want to call those creatures called boys. This entry sounds really negative but I am in no way dismissing the fact that there are successful soirees. You just have to find the right class. This is probably the most tedious part next to the event itself. Until there are exclusive all-girl schools, this thing called a soiree will not see it's end.

The carpool discussion this morning was about the prom. Listening to my friend (who I'm setting up with Faith's date/brother) talk about her prom dilemna, I couldn't help but remember my own prom.

Here's a rundown of what happened that fateful night in February 2003:

THE DRESS- I was supposed to wear a red satin ensemble but I didn't because I didn't want to be mistaken as a cast member of Mano Po 1 and 2! How I would have made Mother Lily (producer of the Mano Po series) so proud...

Anyway, I wore a no frou frou black halter that just screamed blah!

THE DATE- I've put him through enough shit. I shall talk no more.

THE CAR- This is something that would be irrelevant to many of you but this was one of the highlights of my night. In my book, nothing beats his Cefiro!

THE AFTER-PROM GIMIK- I wanted to be somewhere I wasn't. Go figure...
POSTSCRIPT: Life threw lemons at me that night. When I was about to make lemonade, a foreigner had me sent to his room.

*This entry is inspired by English class. Be ready for some cheese.

Pregnancy is one of the best gifts God can give any girl.

It's 9 months of constant pain, body changes and hormonal surges. It's 9 months of emotional upswings and downfalls. It's 9 months of decision making not just for yourself but for your baby as well. In other words, it's 9 months of perdition. It's a _________ (fill in with the appropriate adjective) task but someone has gotta do it. Kudos to all mothers and mothers to be! You know who you are!

Next to mothers, classmates are people I hold dear.

Class spirit is spending half a Saturday with your class- in a baby shower and later, in a concert. Class spirit is sitting through 3 butt aching hours watching bands just to scream our hearts out (thinking we owned the hall) for the last 2 bands. Class spirit is sharing a pack of graham crackers among 5 people for dinner. It's fun and difficult at the same time. But it's something I'd like to go through over and over again.

The sad thing about it all is that the future will see us take on our own yellow road in this diverged wood we like to call life. The bends and twists will be so overwhelming that we will label ourselves brave and strong just to withstand the turbulence of it all. This is not mention all the monsters we will encounter along the way. But the journey will go on. It has to. Our innate yearning for the best will make us reach our Ithaca by hook or by crook. And as we reach the top like dilligent caterpillars would, we will be forever changed- maybe for the worse but I'd like to think otherwise. Our expectations will be the final arbiter.

If after finding Ithaca and reaching the top, we classmates find ourselves back with each other, nothing should change. We shall look back at everything we've been through with smiles, laughter and maybe even tears. We will sing just as the Ataris does, "These are (were) the best days of our lives." And maybe, just maybe, we won't be "sawi" anymore...